Chelsea sack coach Di Matteo after Juventus defeat

Chelsea fired coach Roberto Di Matteo on Wednesday a day after his team suffered a crushing Champions League defeat to Juventus in Turin. Rafael Benitez was appointed as interim coach until the end of the season.

Chelsea sacked their coach Roberto Di Matteo on Wednesday a day after his team were hammered 3-0 by Juventus in the Champions League.

Di Matteo’s dismissal, which was announced in a statement on the club’s website, comes just months after he led the Blues to a stunning Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich.

But Tuesday’s defeat to Juventus leaves the Champions League holders on the brink of elimination from the competition.

"The team's recent performances and results have not been good enough and the owner and the Board felt that a change was necessary now to keep the club moving in the right direction as we head into a vitally important part of the season," Chelsea said on their website (www.chelsea.com).

"The club faces a difficult task ahead in qualifying for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League as well as maintaining a strong challenge for the top of the Premier League while competing in three other cup competitions."

The club will be making an announcement shortly regarding a new first team manager.

Juventus are now the favourites to join Shakhtar in the last 16 after a 3-0 defeat of Chelsea to move second in Group E.

A draw for the Italians in Ukraine in a fortnight would mean Chelsea having the dubious distinction of becoming the first defending champions to exit at the group stage.

Fabio Quagliarella gave Juventus a 38th minute lead with a deflected shot and Arturo Vidal's second half effort was also diverted past Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech on the hour.

Sebastian Giovinco rounded off a dazzling performance from Juventus with a breakaway third in stoppage time.

"We said before the game that we have our destiny in our hands, not any more," Chelsea keeper Petr Cech said.

"Now we need to do our bit, we need to win our last game and hope our fate is kind. Being realistic, Juventus played very well and they need just a point and Shakhtar are already through."

"It's a very sad moment."

Roberto Di Matteo left striker Fernando Torres out of the starting lineup but his plan backfired, raising further questions about his future after his side's slump in form over recent weeks.

"In a big club like this if you have a few bad results you're always going to be under pressure, I knew that from day one," the Italian told Sky Sports.

Shakhtar trailed twice against Nordsjaelland, and although their victory was ultimately comfortable, it was also thick with controversy as their first goal left the home side fuming.

Willian had sportingly played the ball back to Nordsjaelland's goalkeeper after a break in play to treat Morten Nordstrand but Adriano, seemingly unaware of his teammate's sense of fair play, nipped in to equalise.

While Barca have an unassailable 12 points, the runners-up spot is in the balance after Benfica beat Celtic 2-1, meaning they both have seven points with one game left.

Scottish champions Celtic were 20 minutes away from the score draw that would have put them through along with the Spaniards before Argentine Ezequiel Garay struck the winner on a night of torrential rain in Lisbon.

Celtic host Spartak in their final group game knowing they will have to better Benfica's result against Barcelona.

Valencia were already certain of a last 16 place before they even kicked off against Bayern Munich after BATE Borisov's 2-0 loss to Lille in an earlier kickoff.

Thomas Mueller's late equaliser for Bayern then spared the German club a nervy final night in the group stage as a draw was enough to put them out of reach of BATE.

Valencia played two thirds of the match with 10 men after Antonio Barragan was sent off for a wild tackle on David Alaba in the 33rd minute.

"If you play with an extra man for an hour and have to be content with a 1-1 draw it's not satisfactory," Bayern chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on the club's website (www.fcbayern.telekom.de).

"We have to put our foot on the gas again."

Galatasaray kept alive their chances of reaching the knockout phase with a 1-0 victory over already-qualified Manchester United.

They are vying with CFR Cluj for the runners-up spot in Group H after the Romanians beat Braga 3-1 with a first-half hat-trick from Rui Pedro doing the damage.